Standard disclaimer: I do not own the Happy Tree Friends; they are the property of Mondo Media. I own only my own characters and this story. Now here's chapter 9:

9 – BATTLE HEAT

Splendid focused his eyes on a big tent in the middle of the camp and concentrated. Immediately a red beam shot from each eye and struck the tent which caught fire at once. As soon as he was sure the fire had "taken" he sent beams towards another tent some distance away from the first and that one also quickly blazed up. However Splendid didn't stop there. Quickly he flew to the other side of the camp, spraying heat rays as he went. It wasn't long before blazes were breaking out all over the camp. But the Marauders weren't able to catch him because he moved so fast that he was already gone from wherever he'd lit a fire by the time it was discovered. To the Marauders these fires were breaking out without cause.

Flippy watched Splendid's progress from his place on the ridge, counting off each fire as it blazed up. Knowing timing was everything he waited until he had counted at least 25 fires. Meanwhile he watched with interest the effect the fires had on the camp. Everywhere there was a fire the scene would become chaotic as camp people desperately tried to put the fires out. But it wasn't that simple. Splendid had chosen his targets well. Each place he zapped into flame was in a place that made it easy for all of the surrounding tents to catch on fire. At the rate things were going, the fires might easily turn into one big conflagration and destroy the whole camp. If that happened, the code zero might be rendered unnecessary.

But of course things never work out so well. Although most of the Marauders seemed to be reacting with confusion to Splendid's onslaught there were those who were more composed about it and took more rational action to stop the blazes. From some of the tents Flippy saw some of the larger Marauder robots appear and stride without fear to the nearest blazes, which they proceeded to douse using dirt from the ground, water if it was available, and, in the cases of the really big robots, by stomping on the fires. These robots could move quickly. Flippy recognized them; they were all purpose power-supply robots that had been created in the wars of the Before Times. Metramegopolis had many such robots in its possession and they were very useful, but the Marauders also had plenty of them, and many of their robots had been modified to become attack machines as well as power suppliers. Already three of them were trying to track the source of the fires, and they would soon spot Splendid and attempt to neutralize him.

Flippy knew it was time to act. Without hesitation he jumped up on his hind legs, gave a great war cry of a roar, brandished a weapon in each of his front paws, and, before any of the Marauders were able to acknowledge that he was even there, went charging down into the camp with both weapons blazing.

Sometimes, when he heard a loud noise like the firing of a gun, Flippy would have a flashback to his experiences in the last Marauder war and he would think he was back there fighting desperately for his life. This time it was no flashback. As he tore through the camp firing his weapons at anything that moved the mood of battle possessed him until he almost didn't know where he was or what he was doing as long as he could kill, Kill, KILL! KILL! He traveled in an unswerving straight line, mowing down everything and everyone in his path. If something moved he shot it. If he came on an enemy and his gun was empty he clobbered that enemy with his powerful front paw. And, whenever he could, he tossed out bombs in all directions which caused even more damage.

But he was only one bear, as he knew well.

"I can't let up" he thought crazily as he charged, "the Marauder leaders will rally soon. I have to cause as much damage as I can before that happens."

"Flippy!" he heard someone yelling, as from a great distance. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a blue streak coming toward him. He turned suddenly, reaching for a bomb, and saw Splendid.

"Are you going blow me up?" Splendid asked.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you setting more fires?"

For answer Splendid pointed. Flippy looked where Splendid pointed and stopped abruptly.

"You!" he said when he saw what Splendid was looking at.

If he hadn't stopped running Flippy would have crashed into the enormous being who was blocking his path and staring at him with obvious interest. There was no doubt who it was.

"Me" said the Being, "I'm impressed. Are there really only two of you? You've done as much damage as if there were five hundred. Too bad it ends here."

"We're not afraid of you" said Splendid.

"Of course not," came the calm reply, "you wouldn't be here if you were. But you can't think you'll escape now. I'm going to kill you myself."

"You can try" said Flippy, reaching for a bomb with one paw, and another gun with his other. Splendid began to focus his eyes. The Being laughed.

"You don't think you can destroy me that way, do you? And even if you do, how will you get away?" the Being gestured and Splendid and Flippy looked around. While they had been occupied many of the fires had been quenched. Meanwhile some of the more powerful Marauders had begun to rally their fellow campers. The chaos was diminishing and the newly controlled troops were now turning to where Flippy and Splendid were. It was starting to look bad.

Suddenly from their communicators Flippy and Splendid heard a high pitched screech.

"Code Zero! Code Zero! Code Zero!" came the call. Buddhist Monkey seemed to be having a seizure in his eagerness to get his message through. He kept repeating it over and over. Flippy smiled without humor.

"Looks like we'll have to finish this later" he said to his foe. Splendid grabbed Flippy's right paw, hauled him into the air and began flying quickly back toward the edge of the camp.

"Stop them!" boomed the great being, but it was too late. Splendid put on an extra burst of speed and was away from the camp before anyone could react. He flew back to where the Buddhist Monkey was. Flippy grabbed him with his left paw and Splendid flew the three of them back to the city at top speed.

"That was fun" said Splendid.

"Yeah" said Flippy, "But I'm glad it's over. I didn't expect to run into Him."

"That'll just make it a better story" said Splendid.

They were in sight of Metramegopolis. Buddhist Monkey pointed.

"Look" he cried.

"It's happening" said Flippy.

"It's a good thing we're flying" said Splendid, "let's get inside quickly."

(To Be Continued)

A/N - So after 9 chapters how do you like the story so far? Please leave me some feedback and let me know. Thanks!